Loyalty and The Greater Good
by Slayzer
Summary: Li'Sun'yi is young inexperienced Ethereal on her first mission for the Tau Empire. Karl is a Gue'vesa who struggled his whole life for acceptance of his people and to prove himself to the Tau. Even with The Greater Good to guide them can two such people trust each other enough to survive in the grim dark future?
1. Chapter 1

Warhammer 40k is owned by Games Workshop and I make no money off the use of their work.

You know whats great about Warhammer. The whole Warhammer world is like a tool box for your imagination. You get these great races and rules but you can play around with them so it's not so set in stone.

This may be risky but I'm going to try for a more character driven Warhammer fanfic. Risky because if my characters suck then this will all be on me if this story falls flat on it's face. Still I don't think there's enough character driven fanficion in Warhammer. Just my opinion agree or disagree but that's how I see it.

Loyalty and The Greater Good

by Slayzer

+Part I+

+Tau Orbital Space Station over the Sept world of T'olku+

Aun'ui Au'taal Li'Sun'yi took a deep breath to calm herself. If nothing else the young Tau Ethereal could control her own breath even if the everything else was out of her hands. Her nervousness getting the better of her Li'Sun'yi toyed with her long brad of flame red hair. Unlike most Tau who either had no hair on only a ponytail Li'Sun'yi had a full head of long bright red hair. The cream and gold robes that she wore as an Ethereal felt tight and heavy as if the fabric knew she was unworthy. Even the honour blade on her hip felt like awkward even though she had trained tirelessly to master them.

Alone her privet transport felt like a coffin and that confronted her. As a little girl Li'Sun'yi liked small places to hide. It was as if the more walls she could place between herself and the world the safer she felt.

The transport stopped with a whooshed as the hover jets cut of and it came to rest on the ground. Li'Sun'yi took one last moment to collect herself before the door opened. Even as a low ranked Ethereal Li'Sun'yi had to at lest projected the serenity that the ruling cast had. It was all for the Greater Good and it was what the all Tau wanted to see when they looked at an Ethereal, even if it was a lie.

There to greet Li'Sun'yi were several full Cadres of Fire Warriors who snapped to attention at the sight of her. The Shas'vre of the Cadre greeted Li'Sun'yi personally and she was slightly intimidated by him. The large scared veteran of many battles for the Tau and here he was lowing himself to a girl who had done nothing but been sheltered her whole life.

"Aun'ui. I am Shas'vre Notan. Me and my Cadre are all prepared to die for you if you require it of us."

This would be her first mission as an Ethereal and even with all her inexperience and self doubt Li'Sun'yi could not let the honor of her cast and the Greater Good be damaged by her timidity.

"As we all must such sacrifices for the greater good." Li'Sun'yi said brushing past Notan and headed down toward the dock and the waiting ship.

Li'Sun'yi felt she didn't need such loyalty and wanted to say something about how their deaths would not be necessary. However the Fire Cast would have felt insulted if she so causally threw their oath of loyalty back them. The fact was those solders would be call on to fight and possibly die for the Greater Good. If not for her now then on some other day.

Standing in front of the docking port was the Kor'el or the ship's captain. He had come greet the ethereal and pay his respects as well. How Li'Sun'yi wished this would all be over. The needless posturing and gestures of reverence that shamed her because she had done nothing to earn them but be born into a cast. Yet just as the lowest of earth cast lived their life surviving in the roll they had been born into so must she, all for the Greater Good.

Just then a lone dark blue and red gun drone flew over head. It scanned the area as if on a hunting program and swooped this way and that. The gun drone then let out several loud synthetic chirps with heavy bass, it sounded like 'woof, woof.'

The lost drone then flew up to Li'Sun'yi and scanned her. It must have like what it saw because the drone then started to whimper happily as if begging. Li'Sun'yi smiled for the first time in days. The odd little drone had broken the tension that she herself could not. Looking closer at the gun drone Li'Sun'yi saw human script panted on left side of it's domed head. 'What dose this say, Bucky?'

The sound of heavy and fast moving footsteps followed, footsteps that were unmistakeably human. "Good work Bucky you found the ship!"

Li'Sun'yi and the whole Fire Warrior Cadre turned to face one lone human running up to them. The gun drone, Bucky, flew to be next to it's master's side like a faithful pet. The human took note of the many angry Tau eyes watching him. "Or is this not the right docking port."

The human was dressed in a long cobalt blue coat and pants over which he wore dark red Tau body armor. The Tau armor had to be enlarged to fit the taller human body but it was of the same make, with heaver armor on the left arm. His skin was a light tan color in the way that humans seemed to come in an madding number of hues. His long blond hair was tied off in a ponytail and his green eyes a sharp and alive.

Li'Sun'yi took note of the human. By his armor, kit and pulse rifle slung over his shoulder he was clearly a Gue'vesa. The shield on his left arm was emblazoned with the sigil of the Tau Empire but the armor color was that of red human blood.

The lone human back away and pulled himself up into a sharp salute. All that did was make the natural height differences between him and the fire warriors all the more pronounced.

Shas'vre Notan marched purposefully next to the human. "How dare you disrupt the procession of an Ethereal!" he said glaring at the human's chest with all the furry he could muster.

The human stayed at attention his chest out and eyes forward. This meant he couldn't see the face of the enraged Shas'vre. Even so Notan was not about to ask the Gue'vesa too lower his head so he lock eyes with him.

"My apologizes Shas'vre. I had no idea there was an Ethereal present."

"How could you not recognized one from the Ethereal cast!"

The human didn't say a thing as he knew his answer would only upset Notan even more. A soft and amused giggle from Li'Sun'yi broke the tension. "Is it because all Tau look alike with our Blue skin, flat faces and hooves?"

"I wouldn't say that but even as one raised among the Tau I still have trouble with picking out individual Tau faces..."

For the first time the human looked the Ethereal cast woman. She was taller then the fire cast troops. She looked more like the water cast teachers who raised him but the way she carried herself was totally different. The "Y" shaped indention on her face that all Tau women had gave her face an almost human like proportion. Then add in her long brad of flame red hair and she was the most unique Tau he had even meet.

"... but I'm sure I would not forget yours."

Li'Sun'yi turned to face the Kor'el of the ship. "Was this Gue'vesa to have passage on your ship?"

"Yes but that was before we knew we'd have the honor of transporting one such as yourself, Ethereal. It seems as if he didn't get the notice for a rescheduled flight." the Kor'el explained.

The human got frustrated. "I did and the next transport heading to Ko'io'Run'al won't leave for a Kai'rotaa." he said using the Tau word for month. Ko'io'Run'al was the world that Li'Sun'yi was being sent to observer and make a report on it's progress. Her visit had overridden much of the ship's schedule and so the human was left without a ride.

Li'Sun'yi ignored the outburst. "Kor'el surely there is room on your ship for one more body?"

Naton could not hold back his shock. "Ethereal! Even after all this Gue'la as dared to..."

All it took as a wave of her hand to silence the Shas'vre.

Li'Sun'yi walked around the Gue'vesa slowly looking him over. This was the first time she seen a Gue'la that was not a holographic picture from one of her study programs. Li'Sun'yi ran her four fingered hand across the heavy left shoulder shielding of his armor.

"The Sigil of the Tau emblazoned over the red color of human blood. There is meaning in this I take it. "

"Yes, The red human blood of my fellow Gue'vesa surrounding and emboldening the Tau emblem is to me us Gue'vesa supporting the Tau Empire."

"I would know your name Gue'vesa."

"Karl T'olku R'myr."

"You've gone so far as to take a Tau name and it is one that is not unknown to me. I have heard the name T'olku R'myr spoken by others of my cast."

"Then I am honored."

"I did not say it was spoken well of. You humiliated the Fire Cast before billions of loyal Tau when you defeated Shas'O'Jeth'ri and his army in a war game. Some of the fire cast believe it was an attempt to stir a Gue'la revolution within our empire."

"I thought the purpose of the war game was to ready the Shas'O'Jeth'ri and his troops for battle against the Imperium. If I was to play my part well I had to lead my men as if we wanted to win as the Imperium will not care how badly they hurt Shas'O'Jeth'ri's ego in battle. Also I was against the water cast broadcasting our training battle across the Sept."

"Your lucky it was. O'Shaserra herself saw the record and with a few words of praise for your tactics and efforts removed all doubts from your loyalty. Shas'O'Jeth'ri was reassigned away from a planed annexing of a Imperium world because of his lose to you."

Karl smirked at the news. "Then his men should thank me. Otherwise he would have gotten them needlessly killed."

"Jeht'ri has sworn to regain his honor for his humiliation at your hands."

"Shas'O'Jeth'ri hated me for being human. Defeating him only gives him an excuse for a vendetta. I just wanted to prove to him and the other Tau like him that the Gue'vesa are true followers of The Greater Good."

Li'Sun'yi half listened to Karl as she saw the long combat knife strapped to his hip. It wasn't a ceremonial bonding knife but a tool of war. It was what gave Karl his Tau name R'myr 'long knife' and he was something of a legend with it. A gifted master of hand to hand combat, the one form of fighting that the Tau weren't naturally proficient in.

"So you would have us trust all Gue'la based on nothing but your word. A Fire Cast Warrior would take his own life on only the word of an Ethereal. Do any Gue'veas have such strong loyalty to us?"

Karl locked eyes Li'Sun'yi and she found herself unable to hold his gaze. It was something in the un-Tau like human eyes. Those rings of white and green with a deep soulless black center that made up a human's eyes. "That sounds more like control then loyalty but if that's what it takes..."

With a speed and grace that took the Tau Fire Warriors by surprise Karl grabbed his knife and put it in Li'Sun'yi's hands. Then with her hands holding his knife he brought the blade's edge to his neck. "...then take my life if it will prove my devotion to the Greater Good."

Once over the shock the gather Fire Warriors sprang into action. Dozens of pulse riffles were expertly trained on Karl's head. The only thing that gave them pause was how close the Ethereal was to their target and they could not bring themselves to endanger her.

However to Li'Sun'yi and Karl the only thing that existed in that moment was each other and the knife between them. Unlike the honor blades that she trained with the knife felt awkward and heavy in her hands. It was not so much the knife itself but the fact that this wasn't training. If it weren't for Karl's hands holding her steady they would be shaking. He was unflinching even as he willing up his life in her unsure hands.

Li'Sun'yi didn't want this!

She never wanted to be in a position like this. To have someone's life in her hands be it a Tau life or not.

A Earth Cast builder can always rebuild and fix a mistake.

A Fire Cast Warrior can win in the next battle if he retreated.

But an Ethereal was to be infallible. Thousands of lives ready to die at her word but what if she chose wrong? One mistake could damage the faith and loyalty of the Tau people and how could she make that up?

The blade cut lightly into Karl's neck drawing a thin bead of blood. The brightness of fresh human blood was shocking to Li'Sun'yi. Red blood was such an alien sight to her.

"Your hands..." Karl spoke softly.

At first Li'Sun'yi didn't know what he was talking about but then she got it. His callous hands felt like her own hands. Hands made rough by countless days and nights of training and practice, him with a knife and her with her honour blade. Those the human and Tau hands that were so different in number of fingers and color but Li'Sun'yi and Karl's hands had the same feel.

With a clatter the knife hit the floor.

A fraction of a moment later and had Li'Sun'yi slapped Karl across the face. Her four digit hand leaving a unique imprint on his peach skin.

"HOW DARE YOU!"

The Fire Warriors tensed up at Li'Sun'yi's agitated voice.

Karl was as indifferent to her anger as he was to the knife to his throat. "All my life all I wanted to do was walk in the path of the Greater Good and repay the Tau Empire for the many blessing they have given me. However it seems that I have committed the one unforgivable sin of the Tau, I have dared to standout. Now I am separated from my comrades and reassigned to a garrison on a unimportant farming world. They even dare called it a promotion as if I can't see it for what it is."

Li'Sun'yi bent down and picked up Karl's knife. "If you truly believe in the call of the Greater Good then you will act when it calls upon you to act. Even if what the Greater Good asks of us is not what we would ask of ourselves."

Karl couldn't read the look in Li'Sun'yi's alien eyes but he did notice that she switched form using singular to plurals. It was almost as if that was a speech she often told herself.

Li'Sun'yi returned Karl's knife to him. "Also know that there is no such thing as an 'unimportant' world in the Tau Empire. Nor is there such a thing as an unimportant life in the Greater Good."

Karl bowed respectfully to Li'Sun'yi. "The Ethereal is most wise."

Li'Sun'yi faced Naton and the ship's Kor'el. "This man will travel with us but I don't want to see him during the trip."

The Kor'el handed Naton an data tablet with the list of ships crew and troops that would be accompanying them. Naton saw something and smiled. "As you command. I believe I've found some appropriate accommodations for our Gue'la guest."

With that Li'Sun'yi and the Fire Cast accompanying her started to board the Emissary-Class cruiser.

Karl waited with his trusted reprogrammed gun drone Bucky. Somehow he thought that was too easy and knew that this would be an interesting trip.

+On board the Emissary Cruiser+

Karl was always grateful that when the Tau were building the new class of Emissary star ships that they took in to consideration the possibility of non-Tau passengers. Whenever Karl traveled on an older Tau vessel he was always banging his head on the doorways. The Emissary had been built with doors and ceilings that a Tau would find a little to big but the right size for other races.

However the Fire Cadres had taken most of the bunks and no one wanted to share a room with the odd human out. Naton had said that there was another group of auxiliary soldiers on board and that Karl could bunk in with them.

'Kroot. I just know it.' Karl thought sourly.

It had happened more times then he could count on join missions. The Tau would place the Gue'vesa between them and the Kroot so they could be spared the sights, sounds and smells of the Kroot eating habits. Just how long would it take them until the Kroot absorbed some DNA that taught them hygiene?

Karl and his trusty pet gun-drone reached the room they were assigned he sniffed the air. Nothing, none of the fresh kill cadaver body order that follow the Kroot around like a cloud.

The doors slid open and a blast of hot wet air hit Karl like a fist. Whoever was in here had the climate and humidity set all the way up. Stepping into the room Karl saw who and what is roommates were.

It was a group of Tarellian mercenaries.

Tarellian dog-soldiers. A lizard like alien race that had a small empire until 31st Millennium when the Imperium virus-bombed their homeworld. Now the sell their martial and military skills to any alien race willing to pay.

It goes without saying that even after 10 centuries the Tarellians still hated the Imperium and while Karl wasn't Imperial he was human.

From the looks of inborn ancestral hate in their cold eyes Karl knew that his not being part of the Imperium would mean nothing to them. He licked his lips and tossed his backpack and kit onto and empty bunk but kept his back to the door.

"I have to say that I never thought I meet a Fire Cast with a sense of humor and a nasty one at that." Karl said ruefully as he flexed his arms readying for a fight.

Karl beckoned the Tarellians to come at him. "I quickly learned that nothing I say will ever make what my people did to anyone in the Galaxy go away. So I've stopped apologizing for my long dead ancestors because they wouldn't give a shit and nether do you. So why don't we just get on with it?"

The room full of Tarellians started to move toward the lone human like a pack of hungry dogs.

+End Part I+

like I said this will be more character driven then action but there will be battles later, after all this is Warhammer 40k not the UN.

Now on to some short character bios.

Aun'ui Au'taal Li'Sun'yi

A young and beautiful Tau (if you think a Tau woman can be beautiful) Ethereal.

Personalty wise she's a bit of a daddy's girl and sheltered. She loves and respects her father but feels the wight of his shadow and the her duty as an Ethereal is crushing her. Li'Sun'yi greatly doubts her own untested abilities against the exceptions of being an Ethereal. Yet under her insecurities is a strong and compassion heart filled with just cause.

Her name means Wild Flower in Tau.

A/N: I have no idea what an Ethereal dose in a fight other then being better in close rang combat then most Tau. I also learned that an honour blade is like a pike or spear and i thought it was more like a katana. I'll have to sort that out...

Karl T'olku R'myr

A human child raised by the Tau.

Even though Karl embraces the Greater Good his fellow Tau haven't been as embracing of him. He fights for recognition as hard as he fights for the Greater Good but that to has only made him enemies. Skilled in both human and Tau weaponry as well as close quarters combat. Being raised by Tau and the Greater Good as made Karl very open minded for a human.

Another benefit of his Tau eduction is his knowledge of technology. To him Technology is just an extension of civilization and a tool so he doesn't worships it as if it was some god like the Adeptus Mechanicus. He reprogrammed a Gun-drone "Bucky" to give it a dog's level of independent intelligence and treats it as a pet.

A/N: He's the rarest thing in 40k. A free thinking, open minded and pragmatic human. Maybe a little Felix Jaeger in him.

Tarellians?

Other then some fluff for background I've got nothing on them but I see them having a family and pack like mentality. I've seen some cool Lizardmen Fantasy customized with Tau parts as Tarellians but I picture them more like the Dragonborn from D&D and Krogans from Mass Effect. So male and female genders and a much more hotblooded then the Warhammer Fantasy lizardmen. That may be taking more then some liberty with them but without much to go on that's just what mind jumped to, Dragonborn and Krogans.


	2. Chapter 2

Warhammer 40k is owned by Games Workshop.

This fanfic is brought to you by Weebo Space Communists!

I was looking for 40K info and saw that on 1d4chan. I'm getting the feeling that a lot 40k players have a healthy if twisted sense of humor. Not that we'll be seeing any Angry Marines but it's nice to know a lot of people have fun with this stuff too.

I would like to thank everyone for your reviews.

Loyalty and The Greater Good

By Slayzer

+Part II+

+Tau Emissary Cruiser Juntaa'Tash+

Karl looked around the room full of Tarellians, making sure he marked each one he saw. Tarellians were as strong and tough as they looked. Taller then humans with bodies covered in scales with lizard like tails, claws and a face full of sharp teeth. All that was just what nature gave them but then you add a highly disciplined warrior class system that trained them from birth and armed with advanced weapons. Then give them a ten millenarian old chip on their collective shoulders.

The Tarellians were armed with a mix of Tau weapons and armor and their own kit. Their torsos protected with Tau body armor but for the sake of movement their arms and legs were shielded by their own free moving armor. Totems with meanings that only the Tarellians knew hung off their armor on hand woven leather cords.

Anyone would get the idea that Tarellians were some bad-asses you don't mess with if you can avoid it.

It seemed that Karl wouldn't be able to avoid it.

"Come on! I've spent too much time beating up on poor little fire warriors that I've forgotten what a challenge feels like!"

In the back of the group of Tarellians the biggest, oldest and most battle scared one barked something in their language. All of them stopped but still looked ready to jump at a moments notice. The big one that spoke made his way forward while glaring cold death at the human. "Your in the wrong room, monkey."

"No, this the one that they assigned me. I'm very sure of that."

The Tarellian leader showed his fangs in what could have been either a threat or an amused smirk. "I don't care what room those little blue men told you. See your not the first of the Tau's human pets I've meet. Our professionalism and business dealing with the Tau are the only things that are going to let you walk out of this room instead of being carried out."

"I earned my way onto this ship and I'm not wasting my efforts by sleeping in the hallways."

Just then a younger female Tarellian pushed past their leader. Her scales were a dusty mix of red and brown. Her head was crested with long spikes that looked like medium lengthen hair. She hissed at Karl like a snake before speaking. "If you don't want to sleep in the hall then you can sleep in the morgue!"

"Tezca stop! I did not...!" The Tarellian leader yelled at the younger female but she didn't seen to care.

Tezca charged Karl with the rolling animal like run that gave the Dog-Soldiers their name sake. He turned his left shoulder to her just in time for his shield to take the impact of powerful side kick. While the sharp talons of her feet didn't get to rip into Karl the force of her kick numbed his arm. Tezca kept her moment going and whipped herself around and slammed Karl with her tail.

Karl learned that Tarellians were deceptively gracefully for such a large and intimidating race. When was the last time Karl was at such a disadvantaged in a fight?

+Eight Years Ago in the T'olku Reeducation Camp+

An eighteen year old Karl was laying face first in the mud. Karl's new Gue'vesa uniform was ripped and his dirty face was bloody but still he pushed himself up. A heavy boot splashed some dirty water on Karl's face as an old man stood over him.

The man standing over Karl had sandy skin and gray hair but somehow he seemed insurmountable like a craggy old mountain. He wore his unadorned green reeducation clothing as sharp and crisp as if it was a dress uniform. For the past hour he had been kicking Karl's ass and the old man didn't even have a spot of dirt on him to show for the trouble.

"Give it up boy."

The old man turned to walk way but Karl's grabbed his ankle before he could take a single step. "Not giving up..." Karl said as he slowly pulled himself up.

The old man responded by bringing his other boot down on the young man's wrist, almost breaking it. "Those Xenos should have taught you some commonsense instead of that bullshit greater good."

Even though he was bloodied and dirty Karl managed a smile. "There a a lot of things the Tau don't teach me. There are somethings that you have to learn on your own or from others. Colonel, even here in this camp the Tau respect your skill. So please you have to teach me!"

Maybe it was that Karl called him Colonel, something no one had called him since his days in the Imperial Guard. It gave the old man pause. "So you want my skills do you?"

"No, I want your respect. I want to know how you, as a human, earned their respect."

Colonel Haytham formally of the Tallarn Desert Raiders thought about the brash young man's request. That disparate mad look in the Karl's eyes said more about him then any speech. Haytham took his boot off of Karl's wrist.

"When your disrespected for being yourself the best thing to do is knock someone on their ass. They won't like you but they won't be able to think less of you."

Colonel Haytham started to walk away. "If you want to learn more comeback after your wrist has healed."

+Back in the Present+

That was the last time Karl had been so easily handled by anyone. Over the next several years the old Colonel would teach Karl everything he knew about combat. How many years was it under Haytham's harsh training until Karl could match his teacher?

If Haytham taught Karl anything it was that size, power and speed didn't mean you'd win. More often then not it came down to who had the clearer head and who wanted it more.

Tezca was coming at Karl again. This time he duck low under her first kick and the swing of her tail. He knocked her off balance with quick leg sweep. With her footing off Karl got up and checked her with his left shoulder. The shielding of his Tau armor crashed into Tezca and the momentum off Karl's rush pushing them down the corridor.

Back in the room the Tarellian leader shook his head. "What am I to do about her?"

"Queza shouldn't we stop your daughter before she kills that man?" another Tarellian asked.

Queza knew his daughter would be a clawful from the moment he held her in his arms after she hatched. If she killed that human Geu'vase then it could endanger future contracts with the Tau. He and several other Tarellians chased after Tezca and the human to stop their fight before it was to late. Yet something about that human told Queza that he wouldn't die that easily.

+Mess Hall+

The tables were filled with food and every available chair was filled with a Tau body. Air Cast and Fire Cast sat together in mixed seating and the food was served but no one ate yet.

Li'Sun'yi stood before an offering of food with her hands folded in mediation. To the Greater Good no life was ever to be wasted in vain and that went for the animals eaten as food. So from the smallest fish to the largest game the Tau respected that loss of life so that they could be eat. It was just a small moment of mediation before eating the last meal of the day but it was import to all Tau.

That serene stillness was broken when Karl and Tezca burst through the doors and knocked over several serving platters full of food. The two combatants slipped on the food and hit the floor still grappling with each other. Slipping on food wasn't the most graceful takedown Karl ever used but it got Tezca on off her feet. Karl closed in and locked up on Tezca and with her kicks sealed he now could use leverage to counter her physical power.

It seemed that Tezca trained to use her legs and tail more then her fist. Even with the added danger of clawed hands her punches were not at all sharp or clean and were too easy to read. Karl just slipped threw her telegraphed punches like water and laid into her with a blur of hard rights.

Tezca couldn't believe this and it was happening to her! Even with her tail and body wight she couldn't roll over to push this crazed monkey off her! The hairy little ape was trying to crack her skull open like it was some coconut and he was having some success of it as her blood start to flake onto his fist. Getting desperate Tezca did what would be unthinkable for a Tarellian under normal circumstances.

She bit him.

Her sharp jaws clenched around Karl's right forearm. His armor kept her fangs from ripping his arm clean off but the pressure was enough to snap bone. With his right arm broken Karl switched to his left but Tezca was like a starving dog with a bone, nothing would make her let go. With nothing else to try Karl leaned back as far as he could and then slammed his head forward, headbutting Tezca.

The impact was enough brake Tezca's hold on Karl's arm and give both of them concussions. They rolled away from each other and tried to shake the white spots from their eyes. Both of them had just started to rise up when a dozen pairs of blue four-fingered hands held them down.

"What is the meaning of this!" Naton yelled as his Fire Warriors pulled the offenders to their unsteady feet.

"The Lizard and I are just getting acquainted." Karl said and wince as a Tau held him by his broken arm.

"You fifthly shaved monkey!" Tezca said and spat out some blood and a fang. Three more Tau then ran to help hold her back.

Queza and the rest of the Tarellians then made their way into the mess hall. "So how's our cultural exchange going?"

Naton was so pissed his blue face was turning a vivid shade of violet. "How dare you be so causal about this breach of Tau protocol."

"Is it also protocol to offend our allies by assigning one of there most hated enemies to share living space?"

"There are no enemies among the followers of The Greater Good. If you can not control your people to obey that simple rule then perhaps we can't do business with your house anymore."

Queza meet Naton's heated glare evenly. "He was right, you do have a nasty sense of humor. You put that human in with my people and then blame me when a fight brakes out."

"Shas'vre Notan you didn't, did you?" Li'Sun'yi asked horrified that someone of the Greater Good would do such a thing..

All it took was that disappointment in the Ethereal's voice to quell Naton's anger. When he couldn't bring himself to answer Li'Sun'yi knew what Naton had done was intentional and malicious. "It seems that we are to have some blame in this as well..."

Naton and several other Tau dropped to there knees. "NO! Ethereal you are not at fault this was..."

"SLINCES Shas'vre! You forget that your actions reflect on all Tau. So it is that your mistakes are my mistakes and I will own up to them if you can not!" Li'Sun'yi turned away from Naton and back to Queza. "However regardless of our complacence in this incident punishment must be meet to the guilty parties."

"Indeed." Queza said while looking at this disobedient daughter.

"Then if they can not share this ship with each other then they must spend the rest of the journey in the brig, after a visit to the med-bay." Li'Sun'yi said.

"Fine by me." Karl said after shaking the Tau off him.

With that done Queza turned to faced his daughter Tezca. "You have disappointed me Tezca. When I ordered everyone to stand down only you refused to obey. Perhaps I have been to kind to you my daughter."

"Father..."

"You will not speak until I've allowed you to! Even more disgraceful then your lack of obedience was how you forgot your training so much that you'd bite your opponent. Only wild animals bite, you have chosen to lower yourself to the level of an animal. " Queza then ripped one of the handcrafted totems off Tezca's armor and smashed it on the floor.

This was a Tarellian dressing down.

Those totems were not just medals of deeds done but the physical representations of their honor laid bare for all to see. To the Tarellians honor was something that could be lost as well as gained. In some ways without a place to call home the only thing that a Tarellian could say was theirs was their honor.

"Go, we will speak after we've arrived on Ko'io'Run'al."

Without a word of back talk Tezca walked off to the med-bay.

Queza knew this would be a step back for Tezca but he was sure this would let her take two steps forward. After all Tezca was of his house and more then that his blood.

+Tau Med-Bay+

Karl laid down in a bed with his shirt off as a female Water Cast medic ran a scanner over him. "Other then your broken arm and collar bone you also have a mild concussion."

"Great, I can add it to my collection."

Tau didn't have sarcasm as part of their culture and few could tell when a human was being sarcastic. So with that much of what passes for human humor goes right over them. The medic ignored Karl and gave him a shot. "This will keep your brain for bruising but you'll feel dizzy for a while so try not to move. Your bones broke clean so it should only be a few days with proper treatment until your healed."

The door the the Med-bay opened and someone walked in. "Excuse me?"

The medic turned around and saw Li'Sun'yi standing in the doorway. "Ethereal what are you doing here!" the Water Cast medic quickly got over her shock. "I mean how can I help you..."

Li'Sun'yi rubbed her for head and scrunched her eyes dramatically. "All that excitement in the mess hall has given me a headache and I'd also like something to help me sleep."

"I'll get you something right away." The medic said while bowing and backing out of the room.

Li'Sun'yi headache seemed to vanish as she walked over to Karl. "I wanted to personally apologize to you for what Naton did."

"Is that all Ethereal?" Karl asked and then rolled away from her.

This was the first time in Li'Sun'yi's life the someone didn't grovel at her hooves when she spoke. She was even apologizing to him! "IS THAT ALL! How dare you be..."

Karl sat up before Li'Sun'yi got to deep into a tirade. "What I meant was why did you come all the way here to see me? You could have made Naton apologize to me in person but you came here yourself. So what did you want to talk about now that the medic is gone and we're alone."

Li'Sun'yi paused for a moment. "I wanted to ask you a question. Why didn't you just leave the room? It was wrong of Naton to bait into into a fight with those Tarellians but why did you take that bait at all? I thought you were smarter then that."

There were a lot of reasonable justifications Karl could have given her. That turning his back on the Tarellians could have been a fatal mistake. That the confrontation would have happened even if he was on another part of the ship. Yet those were justifications and not the truth.

"I was taught to knock someone on their ass when they disrespected you."

"That's it?" Li'Sun'yi asked surprised by the simplicity of it.

"That's it.

"That is the dumbest reason for a fight I have ever heard. No Tau would ever do something so stupid."

"True but you Tau have a cast system were everyone is respected regardless of their place in it. For humans our whole civilization was based on individuals clawing their way up and defending what that have from others. I know It's not a very enlightened system and it is often very dumb but it is what drove humanity to the stars."

The incomprehensible nature of humans again stunned Li'Sun'yi but something about that world of humans appealed to her. It was a world where she could be an individual and not a her Cast. Li'Sun'yi would be able to try or do anything and fail without fear, her life would be her own. The confines of her as an Ethereal made such a life seem like a fantasy.

"A cast system is not so great either." Li'Sun'yi said simple and headed for the door. She even brushed past the Medic who just came back with a tray of pills.

"Oh! Ethereal I have some medications that might help."

Li'Sun'yi didn't even give the Water Cast medic a look back and kept on walking.

The poor medic looked so upset that she was on the verge of crying. "Was it something I did!"

Karl scratched his head slightly confused by what happened "No, I think is was something I said."

+Three weeks later in orbit over Ko'io'Run'al+

The cruiser Juntaa'Tash made the last Phased Warp shift to Ko'io'Run'al. Not having true warp drive the Tau phased warp-drive could only let them 'skip' at faster then light speed.

On the bridge Yr'Gal the ship's Kor'el or captain looked out at the world below. "Have we been cleared to land?"

A commutation officer looked up form his post. "No sir. I'm not getting any reading from the orbital commutation beacon. I think it could be gravity or solar interferences."

Yr'Gal looked at the data streaming through a half dozen command stations. Everything telling him that it was just a normal communications delay but his instincts told him differently. "Something is wrong here. Call battle stations, being the shields up, charge the Railguns and deployed light flares in wide spread."

The young bridge crew didn't understand what their captain saw but they did not need to understand, only obey.

All around the Tau cruiser the black void of space was pushed back by blinding hot white lights from multiple flares. The flares where normally used to signal ships in an emergency and it was odd to fire more the one at a time.

A Tau woman from the tracking station saw a flash of light in the distances, like when sunlight ripples on the surface of water. She checked her reading again but the sensors showed nothing. "Kor'le, I'm sure I saw something but my instruments aren't reading anything in the area."

"Lock those coordinates into the fire control system and fire a railgun round."

As the Tau's weaponry was brought to bear on a seemingly empty void of space, Li'Sun'yi, Naton and even Tarellian commander Queza forced their way onto bridge.

"Kor'le Yr'Gal what's going on?" Li'Sun'yi asked.

Yr'Gal held out a hand as all of his eyes were focused on the monitors before him.

The blue comet like light of railgun fire tore through space. The shoot was suddenly swallowed up like a pebble dropped into a pool of dark water. It seemed impossible for a railgun round, or anything, to just disappear like that. Then an explosion from some kind of impacted seemed to turn that part of space inside out. Space rippled like water and a ship that had been hiding itself in some kind of reflective holofield was revealed.

The ship was dark gray and purple with a long almost artistic looking hull. At it's bow looked like a spearhead while the stern had three jagged knife like fins. The unknown ship responded by firing several powerful burst of laser bolts before seemingly to pull the darkness of space around itself and disappearing again.

The laser fire went wide and missed the Tau ship completely.

"What or who was that?" Li'Sun'yi asked.

"Dark Eldar." Yr'Gal said grimly. " First take out a plaint communications and hide near by in orbit and kill anyone trying to escape the plant or go down and help. Our warp-drive is cooling down so we go to warp nor can we out run them in normal space."

Yr'Gal looked troubled and no one said a word for several long moments. The Dark Eldar missed only because there were taken by surprise. With all their holofields and sensor damping technology they could hide perfectly. And Yr'Gal knew they would not fall for that flare trick again.

"Sir!" the communications offices called out from his post. "I'm reading some low level planetary communications, audio only."

"Put it on."

The ship's speakers crackled with static for a moment before a scream blasted through them. "I say again to all Tau Empire ships this is the Ko'io'Run'al farming colony! We are under attack from Dark Eldar! Most of our Fire Cast defenders are dead and the Dark Eldar have been rounding up the surviving woman and children as slaves. Even now they torturer the dieing and hunt us for sport! Please to any Tau within the sound of my voice..." the audio was then cut off.

"The single was lost at the point of broadcast." The com officer reported but he was not looking at Yr'Gal but at Li'Sun'yi.

One by one all the Tau on the bridge looked to Li'Sun'yi as if waiting for an answer. Even on his own bridge Yr'Gal said nothing and looked to her for orders. Naton looked to Li'Sun'yi as his duty to protect her warred with his need to fight for his people. The calm of the bridge only contrasted with the chaos down below on the planet's surfaces.

Queza lead over and whispered something to Li'Sun'yi. "I think they want you to give them an order."

For all the Tau wisdom Li'Sun'yi had absorbed in her life. The many extolled virtues of The Greater Good that called on them to act even if would mean their death. For all that insight the only thought that Li'Sun'yi could hold on to was one that every un-Tau like.

Li'Sun'yi steeled herself as her knuckles tightened on the shaft of her honour blade and said. "Let's go knock the Dark Eldar on their asses."

It was a very crude and unrefined statement for a Tau but it forfeited them all for the battle to come.

Life or die the Tau would make the Dark Eldar pay in blood for daring to attack their colony. They would show those soulless space pirates what happened when you stand against The Greater Good!

+End+

Next chapter we get into the Grimdarky that you come to expect from 40k.

I've never read any fluff with the Tau and Dark Elder locking horns. So I thought it be a fun little match up. Dark Elder fast attackers and powerful melee going against Tau long range firepower. I think it would be a fun little mismatch of powers. "Shoot all the Dark Elder down range because if they get to close or they'll butcher us." or something like that I think.

Again I only read warhammer not play it so any advice you readers/warhammer gamers could give would be helpful. I've been reading some of the codex's but a lot of it is over my head stats wise.

Once more some bios.

Tezca.

Female Tarellian Mercenary.

She's a very "Un" type of girl. Unyielding, Uncompromising and Unrelenting. So not one to changer her mind on anything but if you can get on her good side she'll be a life long friend. Raised as a mercenary she has the view that today's allies could be tomorrow's enemies and that's just the nature of the business. By Tarellian standers she still a novices but they a long living race so she's much older then how she acts. Tezca has a lot of life experiences and most of them were bad so she's sitting on a lot of rage.

A/N I think every little band of heroes needs a jaded, been there done that, hard-assed mercenary.


End file.
